DOI Heft:
Egypt
DOI Artikel:Mycielska-Dowgiałło, Elzbieta; Woronko, Barbara: Saqqara: analysis of mineral deposits in the northern wall of Pit I
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41242#0110
an occasional accidental piece of mudbrick. These deposits clearly
follow the fossil slope inclination. The ceiling of this series exhibits
the presence of a weathering-soil horizon, consisting of clay debris
of gray color (fig.l, layer 3c); remnants of a human skull were
found in this layer at the western end of the trench wall.
The series as a whole (fig.l, layers 3, 3a, 3b, 3c) is indicative
of deep erosion inside a valley under formation (westward of the
pit) running N-S and sloping toward the south. It also testifies to
a slope being formed, dissecting an earlier, barely inclined surface,
represented by layer no. 1. The formation of the weathering-soil
horizon, as of the heap of limestone debris, should be referred to
a period older than 4000 years BP (2050 BC)..
Above the no. 3 series (fig.l, layers 3, 3a, 3b, 3c) there is
a sandy layer, 0.5 m thick, mixed with some horizontally laminated
gravel, slightly inclined southwards (fig.l, layer 4a). The
stratification is of a type that suggests accumulation by flood water
from a dynamic episodic river, which while flowing in the N-S
valley (known to have developed in the area west of the excavation
trench), at a level of ca. 49 m a.s.l., may have encroached during
flooding onto upper levels reaching 51-52 m a.s.l. The laminae
inclination in the deposit points to a southward run-off. A number
of such flood episodes are recorded in layer 4a, beginning each
time with a layer of thin gravel and ending with sand. Toward the
east, the layer thins out and partly overlaps with slope deposits
(fig.l, layer 4b). Several facts lead to conclusions on the period of
its formation. A low stone wall runs parallel to the pit wall in its
immediate vicinity, its height reaching the ceiling of the
weathering-soil horizon (fig.l, layer 3c). Its date has been
established on the ground of archaeological data as 2050 BC. No
weathering-soil horizon was discovered when excavating this wall,
indicating that the layer was older than the stone wall and had been
108
follow the fossil slope inclination. The ceiling of this series exhibits
the presence of a weathering-soil horizon, consisting of clay debris
of gray color (fig.l, layer 3c); remnants of a human skull were
found in this layer at the western end of the trench wall.
The series as a whole (fig.l, layers 3, 3a, 3b, 3c) is indicative
of deep erosion inside a valley under formation (westward of the
pit) running N-S and sloping toward the south. It also testifies to
a slope being formed, dissecting an earlier, barely inclined surface,
represented by layer no. 1. The formation of the weathering-soil
horizon, as of the heap of limestone debris, should be referred to
a period older than 4000 years BP (2050 BC)..
Above the no. 3 series (fig.l, layers 3, 3a, 3b, 3c) there is
a sandy layer, 0.5 m thick, mixed with some horizontally laminated
gravel, slightly inclined southwards (fig.l, layer 4a). The
stratification is of a type that suggests accumulation by flood water
from a dynamic episodic river, which while flowing in the N-S
valley (known to have developed in the area west of the excavation
trench), at a level of ca. 49 m a.s.l., may have encroached during
flooding onto upper levels reaching 51-52 m a.s.l. The laminae
inclination in the deposit points to a southward run-off. A number
of such flood episodes are recorded in layer 4a, beginning each
time with a layer of thin gravel and ending with sand. Toward the
east, the layer thins out and partly overlaps with slope deposits
(fig.l, layer 4b). Several facts lead to conclusions on the period of
its formation. A low stone wall runs parallel to the pit wall in its
immediate vicinity, its height reaching the ceiling of the
weathering-soil horizon (fig.l, layer 3c). Its date has been
established on the ground of archaeological data as 2050 BC. No
weathering-soil horizon was discovered when excavating this wall,
indicating that the layer was older than the stone wall and had been
108